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Community Media and Human Development Resources

Year when project approved:

2004

This project involves two community media dedicated to meeting local community interests: Universal Radio (FM 100.3) which is a community radio station working for 22 years in the city of Buenos Aires, with a coverage of 70 kms; and Universal TV colour is a mixed system of TV integrated by a community antenna and a community TV circuit. It has been functioning there (in the same city) for 15 years. The goal of this project is to promote a participatory approach to programming by involving in productions those segments of the community most open to this type of initiative - schools, social and cultural institutions and neighbourhood groups. The participation of teachers, cultural and social promoters, leaders and neighbours of the neighbour's group would be preceded by an effective training in the use of radio and telegenic-television media.

Project region:

The training courses began in April 2005, and 13 in total were conducted (three more than originally planned). The workshops took place in 13 different towns in province of Cordoba, and 167 people received training. However, this number fell short of the 250 people initially aimed for. The workshops finished in June, and covered theoretical subjects on video production and scripting and also had practical training. The scripts were developed by the participating teachers and sent by email to instructors for correction. The instructors will be providing feedback to the teachers as well on their video productions in order to provide ongoing training beyond the project's timeframe. A final event was organized on 25 November to present all of the video productions to UNESCO and provide an opportunity for the project results to be evaluated. Twelve videos have been produced so far; the thirteenth is behind schedule. The videos are to be used for educational purposes and were produced on a variety of subjects. Many dealt with historical subjects, such as the history of the town or the school, or on cultural subjects with a view to creating a video archive. The videos were made by the teachers in cooperation with their students.The technical capacities of the teachers were enhanced through their acquisition of skills in video production, and as a result, video has been added as a tool for education and cultural preservation.

Summary of the project evaluation:

Achieved outputs:

The project produced quality videos and the teacher-participants felt they benefited greatly from the training. This project did not deal with capacity building for media itself, but rather in assisting with the media training for a pedagogical purpose.It must be noted that there was conceptual confusion in the presentation of this project. The implementing body, Radio Universal/Televisora Color originally said in its proposal that it would produce 500 videos and train about 250 people, indicating that the people receiving would be making two videos each. The proposal submitted to IPDC said specifically that the project would 'Produce 500 videos (documentaries, educational and/or institutional) on the history of the town, colony (rural zone) the neighbourhood, the typical inhabitants of the place. However, the project produced only 12 videos (one per workshop) that were collaborative efforts by the participants. The implementing body now has explained to UNESCO that by 500 videos it meant total copies, not total productions. This confusion should have been clarified at the outset. However this change in output should be taken into account in making the final assessment of this project. (Dec 2005)